President Bashar al-Assad of Syria claims the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) has recruited followers and gained in strength despite a US bombing campaign.
In an interview with CBS television, he said he was open to talks with the US, insisting that he retained the support of much of the population
But he also accused Washington of exaggerating the impact of air strikes.
“Sometimes you could have local benefit but in general if you want to talk in terms of Isil, actually Isil has expanded since the beginning of the strikes,” he said.
He went on to dispute American claims that Isil was under growing pressure.
“Actually, no, you have more recruits,” he said. “Some estimates that they have 1,000 recruits every month in Syria. And Iraq they are expanding in, in Libya and many other al-Qaeda affiliate organisations have announced their allegiance to ISIS. So that's the situation.”